Psat/sat/act

[creekland]

Quick question. Is there any way it would hurt my current sophomore's chance at National Merit status if I have him take the SAT this year as well as after next year's PSAT?

 

I'd like him to be able to take community college courses next year (as a Junior) and the only way I MIGHT get it ok'd by the college is if he has good SAT scores... We're not in one of those nice states that allow those less than 17 to take whatever they want... at least - not this college.

 

I really, really would like him to have microbio somewhere with a lab... to be certain he wants to go into what he 'thinks' he wants to go into.

 

Hmm, and if it's not possible, perhaps the ACT would do for entry without affecting National Merit? (Brainstorming as I type.)

[MomsintheGarden]

Taking the SAT in the sophomore year won't hurt your student's chances a bit for NM. There was a time window in which my daughter, a NM semifinalist this year (she took the PSAT a year ago) was supposed to take the SAT, but there was nothing in the paperwork that said taking it early would hurt.

 

That said, if your student becomes a NM semifinalist in two years, he will be required to send relatively current SAT scores to the NM Corp. They give you a code in the application. SAT scores are expected to confirm the PSAT scores. I'm not sure what the range of acceptability is, but my guess is that 2000+ for all three sections will be fine. When/if the time comes for you, you can call them.

 

I recommend that you keep on doing what is right for your student.

 

GardenMom

[creekland]

Thanks. I didn't think it would hurt, but I didn't want to do anything dumb to hurt his chances. On practice tests (both SAT and PSAT) he regularly scores in the range to qualify for the cutoff. Since he wants to do some sort of medical research I really want to see if I can get him into classes with better labs than we have even if it doesn't count for college credit later on.

 

I wish we lived in a state that allowed kids to take cc classes. Here he needs to test into college level classes and essentially be able to start cc as a normal student. The testing shouldn't be a problem, but he's only going to be 16. They say - to enter - that a student needs to be 17. I've got to see if, with test scores in hand, they'll make an exception.